Friday, January 14, 2011

Paint Chip Mosaic Wall Hanging

I had been collecting some paint chips for some ideas around the house and for some craft projects I had seen online.
Now that I have an office with large white empty walls I wanted to do something (preferably cheap) to make the walls more "homey".  I bought a 22 x 28 inch canvas and some espresso acrylic paint (spent $10 for both of them). 
I painted the canvas brown (took two coats) and cut the paint chips into 3" squares.  When the paint dried, I arranged the squares on the canvas, spreading the colors.  I even cut some of the squares in half and scattered them around the canvas.
So next I decided to mod podge the squares down. This is the part that didn't work out!  The corners on each one of those 63 squares curled up, that is a total of 252 corners curling up and smiling (or maybe even laughing) at me.  So plan B commenced with me taking off the squares that I could and wiping off the mod podge and then drying them off. I then wiped off the canvas and actually had to repaint that baby because in my wiping, I took off some of the paint!
So then I taped those pieces together on the back side, that is a total of 69 pieces that I taped together.
And next I used the extra strong adhesive spray that I had on hand...that worked perfectly and the edges stayed down this time!
By this point I am really liking the looks of this project.
But I wasn't done yet.  I combined a few drops of the espresso paint with some mod podge to seal the art!
Here it is all wet with me waiting anxiously for it to dry.  I was still afraid that the edges were going to curl up!
Still very wet, having some second thoughts about the tinting...
The edges are staying down...
Here is the finished product!  I may add another coat of tinted mod podge to even out the antiquing look...I think it might look too streaky.
But for now, this is the finished product!  I plan to hang it in my new office at work...I have three empty white walls to look at in there now, so am excited about getting at least one thing on the wall.

35 comments:

Beverly said...

Looks really good! I keep meaning to make something to hang at work too and you've given me a little inspiration so I thank you!

Anonymous said...

Love this! I'm a definite paint-chip hoarder and this is a great new way to display them! (Saw your post on craft eNVy's link party and had to comment!)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! However, I AM a little discouraged to find out that Mod Podge is not the answer to everything-that-must-be-glued. I think my evening is ruined; I have to go cry. ;-)

Everyday Art said...

OH MY GOSH! I totally love that. Fantastic idea and super-great tutorial. Thanks so much.
-Jaime

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

What a great idea to fill a large wall space. Thanks for sharing your bloopers too. Here in blogland we learn so much from each other. I never know what to expect when I try a project for the first time. It looks fantastic.

sara/creativejewishmom said...

Gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing on Craft schooling Sunday, and I'm sure you'll be the envy of everyone at work! Great to see you on Craft Schooling Sunday and thanks so much for sharing.

Jaime Costiglio said...

Loving your layout, you really have an eye for color placement. I'm so inspired by your project (and it's very frugal nature) that I can't wait to make my own. Thanks.

Tiffany said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tiffany said...

Thanks for joining the Meeting Friends Sunday Blog Hop! I am following you:)

www.hislittlemrs.com

Meta said...

A great idea! I like the way it turned out. I wonder why the modge podge didn't work??? I thought it was the answer to everything!

biblechik said...

I love this! I've seen paintings like this and really liked them. so now I know how to pump one out myself! how exciting! ThANKS!

LivingSoAbundantly said...

Super creative! :)

Life, Crafts and Whatever said...

Very cool! I love the little rectangles. I just made one of these too if you want to check it out. I'm a new blogger and I'd love to have you visit!

http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2011/01/paint-chip-wall-art.html

Sheri@childmade.com said...

Well, I for one LOVE the tinting! It makes it look like suede. Well done! Thanks for sharing ... I'll be linking. And please come join my party anytime!

http://childmade.com/index.php?name=Shared%20links

Lisa said...

Pretty! I do like the antiqued mod podge look to give the chips some texture.

cjaxon said...

Ohhhhh! Finally something to do with all those colors! My daughter HAS to grab handfuls everytime we go to a hardware store!

Marie C. said...

So pretty! And it's funny that you decided to make this and post it last weekend. That's when I was working on a geometric painting (http://educatorssoliloquy.blogspot.com/2011/01/artists-date-week-two-geometric.html) and thought "I wonder if I can do something with paint chips?" and decided that I would experiment with that this next weekend. Now you've further inspired me!

Jill said...

Beautiful!! What a great use for those paint chips! Glad the edges eventually behaved and stuck down! Worth all the effort!

Thanks for linking up to A Round Tuit! Hope you have a lovely week!

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://jembellish.blogspot.com/

Jen @ EmbellishingLifeEveryday said...

It looks great! What a clever craft!

Camilla said...

Wow, love this!! I would have NEVER thought to make something like this, but I'm pretty sure I can't live without one now. :) I'm featuring this for Whimsical Wednesday at http://rosyredbuttons.blogspot.com tomorrow!

Christina @ AccomplishingMotherhood said...

wow, that is just to cute and SMART! I have so many chips sitting around, now I know what to do with them!
following now:)
Hopped over from the Sew Much Ado Party!
http://accomplishingmotherhood.blogspot.com

Melissa said...

That turned out so great! Thanks for sharing over at Tuesday Tell All!

Jennifer said...

So cool, I really want to try this one out. Any excuse to go to home depot, amiright? lol I featured you today on my favorite things :)

http://sunshineandchaucer.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-favorite-things_1648.html

Kelly~ Wave of Life Surf Studio said...

What a brilliant idea!! Hi I am your newest follower from the blog hop & would love it if you stopped by and returned the love :)

http://waveoflifesurfstudio.blogspot.com/

Ginger said...

Look'n good! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

Unknown said...

What a great idea-so creative-how many paint chips have I had over the years-wowza!! I found you on a blog hop and I'm your newest follower! Come over to visit-Claire

Jami said...

This is adorable! I love the colors you used. :)

Sassy Sites! said...

I love this project! I totally looks like a hanging quilt! Just adorable! ;) Thanks for linking it up at Sassy Sites for our Trash to Treasure Tuesday! Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo!

Marni

Kim said...

Perfect! I have a quilt that looks like this(w/out the tinting--LOL). Perfect for those yucky white walls.

Rachel said...

That is really neat looking! What a great idea. Found you from Mommaskindacrafty.
http://rachel-thelifeofriley.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

This is awesome! And of course the price is perfect! Thnaks for sharing with the Pink Hippo party!

Jenn Erickson said...

Wow! By far and away the best project I've seen with paint chips. I would definitely have that fabulous piece of art hanging in my home! I love it! Good call on the antiqued tint. Thank you so much for sharing your project at "A Little Birdie Told Me..." at Rook No. 17!

Heather said...

Just linked up your project on my blog!
What a great idea!
www.spotmyeye.blogspot.com

julie neil said...

This is a brilliant idea! It came out wonderful too.
You should feel great about this- it's very cool.

Well done!
julie neil

Livenhzq said...

This is adorable! I love the colors you used. :)